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Autism Project of Rhode Island, Adoption Rhode Island, and Hasbro Children's
Hospital . [54] The film was released in IMAX on September 21, 2007, [55] with
additional footage that had not been included in the general theatrical
release. [56] Marketing [ edit ] Further information: Transformers: Movie
Prequel , Transformers: Movie Adaptation , Transformers: Ghosts of Yesterday ,
and Transformers: The Game Hasbro 's toy line for the film was created over
two months in late 2005 and early 2006, in heavy collaboration with the
filmmakers. [37] Protoform Optimus Prime and Starscream were released in the
United States on May 1, 2007, and the first wave of figures was released on
June 2. [37] The line featured characters not in the film, including Arcee .
[35] A second wave, titled "AllSpark Power", was set for release late 2007,
which consisted of repaints and robotic versions of ordinary vehicles in the
film. [57] The toys feature "Automorph Technology", where moving parts of the
toy allow other parts to shift automatically. [58] Merchandise for the film
earned Hasbro $480 million in 2007. [59] Deals were made with 200 companies to
promote the film in 70 countries. [60] Michael Bay directed tie-in commercials
for General Motors, Panasonic , Burger King and PepsiCo , [61] while props –
including the Camaro used for Bumblebee and the AllSpark – were put up for
charity sale on eBay. [62] A viral marketing alternate reality game was
employed through the Sector 7 website, which presented the film and all
previous Transformers toys and media as part of a cover-up operation called
"Hungry Dragon", perpetrated by a "real life" Sector 7 to hide the existence
of genuine Transformers. The site featured several videos presenting
"evidence" of Transformers on Earth, including a cameo from the original
Bumblebee. [63] Home media [ edit ] Transformers was released on DVD and HD
DVD on October 16, 2007 in North America. The Wal-Mart edition of the DVD
included a shortened animated version of the prequel comic book , titled
Transformers Beginnings and featuring the voices of Ryan, Cullen, and Dunn, as
well as Welker as Megatron . [64] The Target copy was packaged with a
transforming Optimus Prime DVD case and a prequel comic book about the
Decepticons. [64] The DVD sold 8.3 million copies in its first week, making it
the fastest-selling DVD of 2007, in North America, and it sold 190,000 copies
on HD DVD, which was the biggest debut on the format. [65] The DVDs sold 13.74
million copies, making the film the most popular DVD title of 2007. [66] The
film was released on Blu-ray on September 2, 2008. [67] In the first week, the
two-disc edition of the Blu-ray was number one in sales compared to other
films on the format. The Blu-ray version accounted for two-thirds of the
film's DVD sales that first week, selling the third most in overall DVD sales.
[68] On June 16, 2009, Paramount included a sticker on all new Transformers
DVDs that contained a code to view exclusive content online from the first
film and get a sneak peek at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen . The content
includes three exclusive clips from Revenge of the Fallen , behind-the-scenes
footage from both films, and never-before-seen deleted scenes from the first
film. [69] Transformers was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on December 5, 2017.
[70] The film grossed $303.7 million in home sales. [71] Reception [ edit ]
Box office [ edit ] Transformers had the highest per-screen and per-theater
gross in 2007 in North America. [72] It was released on July 3, 2007 with 8
p.m. preview screenings on July 2. The United States previews earned $8.8
million [73] and in its first day of general release, it grossed $27.8
million, a record for Tuesday box-office gross until it was broken by The
Amazing Spider-Man in 2012. [74] It did, however, break Spider-Man 2 ' s
record for the biggest Fourth of July gross, making $29 million. [75]
Transformers opened in over 4,050 theaters in North America [5] and grossed
$70.5 million in its first weekend , debuting at #1 and amounting to a $155.4
million opening week, giving it the record for the biggest opening week for a
non-sequel, surpassing Spider-Man . [76] It would also break other records
during its first week, surpassing Planet of the Apes for having the highest
non-sequel July opening weekend, War of the Worlds for scoring the highest
non-sequel Fourth of July opening weekend, The Passion of the Christ for
having the biggest non-sequel Wednesday gross and Independence Day for
achieving the largest non-sequel Thursday gross. [77] The opening's gross in
the United States was 50% more than what Paramount Pictures had expected. One
executive attributed it to word of mouth that explained to parents that "it
[was] OK to take the kids". Transformers ended its theatrical run in the
United States and Canada with a gross of $319.2 million, making it the third
highest-grossing film of 2007 in these regions behind Spider-Man 3 and Shrek
the Third . [78] The film sold an estimated 46,402,100 tickets in North
America. [79] The film was released in 10 international markets on June 28,
2007, including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore , and the Philippines .
Transformers made $29.5 million in its first weekend, topping the box office
in 10 countries. [80] It grossed $5.2 million in Malaysia , becoming the most
successful film in the country's history. [81] Transformers opened in China on
July 11 and became the second highest-grossing foreign film in the country
(behind Titanic ), making $37.3 million. [82] Its opening there set a record
for a foreign language film, making $3 million. [83] The film was officially
released in the United Kingdom on July 27, making £8.7 million, and helped
contribute to the biggest attendance record ever for that weekend. It was
second at the UK box office, behind The Simpsons Movie . [84] In South Korea ,
Transformers recorded the largest audience for a foreign film in 2007 and the
highest foreign revenue of the film. [85] Worldwide, Transformers was the
highest-grossing non-sequel film in 2007 with over $709.7 million, making it
Bay's fourth highest-grossing film to date, with three of its sequels
surpassing it. [5] It was also the fifth highest-grossing film of 2007
worldwide, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End , Harry Potter and
the Order of the Phoenix , Spider-Man 3 and Shrek the Third . [86] Critical
response [ edit ] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an
approval rating of 57% based on 228 reviews and an average rating of 5.8/10.
The website's critical consensus reads, "While believable characters are hard
to come by in Transformers , the effects are staggering and the action is
exhilarating." [87] On Metacritic , the film has an weighted average score of
61 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
[88] IGN 's Todd Gilchrist called it Bay's best film, and "one of the few
instances where it's OK to enjoy something for being smart and dumb at the
same time, mostly because it's undeniably also a whole lot of fun". [89] The
Advertiser 's Sean Fewster found the visual effects so seamless that "you may
come to believe the studio somehow engineered artificial intelligence". [90]
The Denver Post 's Lisa Kennedy praised the depiction of the robots as having
"a believably rendered scale and intimacy", [91] and ABC presenter Margaret
Pomeranz was surprised "that a complete newcomer to the Transformers
phenomenon like myself became involved in the fate of these mega-machines".